And the winner is…

With the announcements of the Oscar nominees this morning, I thought I had better get out my Album of the Year pick, so here goes.

Mars Volta.

Yeah, this one wasn’t really even close. All of the albums nominated were good, to be sure, but the Volta record was just a home run. It had everything: Hard rockin’ moments, subtle textures, excellent musicianship, interesting (if bizarre) lyrics, the list goes on. I liked this recording the first moment I heard it, and it has continued to get better and better with time. This was one of those albums where I didn’t even make it past the first three or four tracks for a few weeks, just because I kept going back to hear them over again. That is always a good sign. In my opinion, this is among the greatest albums released in a long time, and one I think I will be pleased to hear come up on my iTunes mix again and again in the years to come.